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Snakes and Ladders
|next = }} " " is the second episode of the second season of the Murdoch Mysteries and the fifteenth episode of the series. Summary Detective Murdoch Investigates a series of murders of young women that resembles that of Harland Orgill, a serial killer being tracked by a Scotland Yard Detective, Edward Scanlon. The murderer leaves behing a blood-written taunt, "Try to stop me". The women are found to all have occupations, but are otherwise not obviously linked. The carriage used in the murders is recovered and checked for evidence using a new UV light source. According to a local alienist, Dr. Roberts the killer is driven by a hatred of women and a need to feel more powerful than them by killing them, and possibly suffers from some sort of sexual perversion. The station arrests a peeping tom, Mr Bailey, who seems to fit the profile of the killer, but who denies involvement. Bailey takes a constable hostage and demands to be released from police custody, but Scanlon shoots Bailey. While Scotland Yard and the Toronto PD believe the case closed, Murdoch is concerned with the loose ends, especially the lack of a connection between the women. As he makes to return to England Scanlon points out that all the victims were from out of town. As Murdoch investigates, and finds that all the women stayed at the YWCA, Scanlon visits Dr. Ogden and asks her to dinner, which she turns down. Murdoch learns that one of "his officers" has been to the YWCA to look at their files, which prompts him to re-examine the carriage. Murdoch finds a fingerprint and compares it to one on the snakes and ladders board that Scanlon had given to the department earlier. Murdoch and Brakenreid realize that Scanlon had been using his badge to lure women into his carrage then killing them. They learn from Scotland Yard that the real Scanlon had been killed by Orgill some months earlier, and Orgil had been impersonating Scanlon ever since. They also realize Dr. Ogden is his next intended victim. Orgill attacks Dr. Ogden in the morgue, but she is able to fend him off and kills him in self defence. Character Revelations *Julia kills a person for the first time, though in self defense Continuity Historical References *Similarities to Jack the Ripper 's murders in the Whitechapel district in London are referenced several times. *One reference was that Jack was the Royal Surgeon Dr. William Gull , who was supposedly 'cleaning up' after the romantic liaisons of Queen Victoria's grandson and heir to the throne, Prince Albert Victor (better known as Eddy or the Duke of Clarence). Albert Edward died in 1894 but not before being linked to a number of scandals . *Another reference was to Dr. Thomas Cream who killed several people by poison, and made a final confession of being the Ripper (although he was incarcerated at the time of the Ripper murders). *Murdoch mentions the Whitechapel murders happened "7 years ago". The Jack the Ripper killings occurred in late 1888, placing this episode in late 1895 or early 1896. *Murdoch uses a UV light source to illuminate the interior of a carriage and mentions asking a researcher at MIT, Richard Wood, who has several patents related to ultraviolet and infrared photography. * Philippe Pinel is mentioned as a French Alienist, or psychologist. Trivia * Bisson's middle daughter appears as one of the victims. Errors Cast Main Cast Yannick Bisson as William Murdoch Jonny Harris as George Crabtree Thomas Craig as Thomas Brackenreid Helene Joy as Julia Ogden Recurring Cast Lachlan Murdoch as Henry Higgins Paul Amos as Dr. Roberts Guest Starring Alistair Mackenzie as Inspector Edward Scanlon Wendy Lyon as Melva Moffat Conrad Dunn as Professor Ontranto Paul Haddad as Morris Bailey Other Cast Molly Shanahan as Alberta Moffat Dominique Bisson as Gloria Abercrombie Gallery References